Every rose has its thorn.

Chapter Nine: Events unfurl.

Earlier, January 17th

I reached down into the equipment box, picking out a worn pair of Karate gloves. Daniel opted for a slightly different approach, grabbing a pair of brand new, gleaming black boxing gloves. He slipped them on, the material barely containing his massive hands as he did so. The gloves clung easily onto my hands as I slid my finger through the grips.

"All geared up?" I asked, looking around the room for an unoccupied punch bag.

"Yeah. I can see a space over there I think." He said, pointing towards the back of the room with one arm and stretching the other somewhat violently. We made our way through the claustrophobic gym, pushing past a group of bulky looking males. They barely seemed to notice as we walked directly through the centre of them, clearly engrossed in conversation. Daniel took the lead as we made it to the punch bag, wasting no time in launching a hard right hook at it. The chains that it hung from clattered and shook as the punch landed, causing a small amount of dust and debris to fall from the ceiling. I followed, matching his punch with an equally impressive roundhouse kick. He nodded in approval, laughing.

"You're getting better, but it'll be a long time before you're as strong as me!" He said, demonstrating his prowess with a second punch. This time it was with his left arm, and the bag jetted upwards, almost snapping free of it's moorings. I was somewhat shocked, but not entirely. Daniel had been a rugby player for years, and as such his arms were considerably more muscular than mine.

"Fair point, but i'm still faster than you." I said, faking a set of quick punches against him. As I threw a third jab out, he knocked it down, slapping me on the top of the head playfully.

Once we had warmed up sufficiently, we claimed the boxing ring before anyone else could, and started the proper training session for the day. Hopping in, we began a light round of sparring, talking as we did so.

"I hear you and Anna are doing well." He said, attempting a short, sharp punch to my chest. I blocked it quickly, retaliating with a snap kick to the side.

"Yeah, pretty well. I'm taking her out in a couple of days, and then hopefully back to mine for.." I finished, trailing off with an impish smile on my face. He laughed, before becoming slightly more serious.

"Just watch out. She's sweet now, but if anything goes wrong, you know how she can be." He said, punching yet again. I grabbed his fist and pushed it back, annoyed.

"What the fuck is that meant to mean?" I asked, swinging a punch which Daniel only managed to dodge by mere millimetres.

"Alex, calm down, i'm just saying-"

"Well don't just say! She hasn't done fuck all, so don't insult her!" I roared, punching and missing yet again. Daniel was getting aggravated, but I didn't care. I would defend Anna with my life.

"You're lying to yourself. You know her as well as I do Alex, you know what she will fucking do!" He replied, his voice tinted with rage. This statement pushed me over the edge, and rather than going in for a punch, I slammed my elbow into the side of his face, three times in quick succession. He stumbled, and I ripped the glove off my right hand, punching him as strongly as possible. Clinging to the ropes, he looked up at me, his expression a mix of anger and fear. Blood trickled from his nose, and he seemed to be unable to stand from the beating.

"Some kind of fucking friend you are." I hissed, stepping out of the ring and pushing past the crowd that had formed to watch our bout. I shrugged off various insults and threats, and as I made it out of the door, I broke into a sprint.

Alone with my thoughts, I made it to the town's outskirts without even realizing. I had been going for at least an hour, incapable of thinking of anything but how I had acted and how right Daniel was. Most of the shops I passed were closed, though a few remained open, hoping to make enough money to go on. There were no buskers, no protests, not a person in sight as I made it ever closer to the centre. There was a light rain beginning, and I stopped to feel it cleanse my skin. It was relaxing to me, cooling my mind and soothing my headache. The rain grew heavier, and in the space of a minute it had become torrential. I ran to shelter under a wide, arched doorway.